Death, murder, death, accident, abuse of power, official misconduct, police brutality, sexual assault, body found, missing toddler, financial scandal, liberal vs. conservative, black vs. white, vandalism, ISIS, newly-discovered threats, cyber-attacks, more new new threats, privacy breaches, identity theft, food recalls, then, finally, a five-second “feel-good” story.
Sound familiar? If you watch your local or national newscast on any given night then it most certainly does. For all of our aversion to even the prospect tragedy in our own lives, we are insatiably drawn in when it happens to other people. The media conglomerates are all-too-aware of this and respond with a steady diet of the macabre on a nightly basis. You can’t really blame them (although many do); they are simply giving the people what they want. It is the same with government, the educational system, and our offerings on prime-time television: our options are a reflection of what we demand (or don’t demand) from our institutions.
There is no doubt that we are living in stressful and uncertain times. Our population is exploding, our resources are dwindling, privacy is virtually non-existent, and the threats both at home and from abroad have never been more plentiful. But if our only gauge on the state of our world came through what was reported by the media, our only conclusion would be that we are dangerously close to end-times, with no ray of light on the horizon. I’ve personally fallen into this mind trap more times than I care to admit, and it has negatively colored not only my perception of the world, but the perception of my place in it.
And the worst part of it is that I know better. I know that there is more good in the world than bad. I know that there are more people who want to give of themselves than people who want to take from others. Yet I’ve found it difficult at times to break free of the horde mentality, the us versus them paradigm of scarcity, selfishness, and fear that is more pervasive than it needs to be.
That is why I’ve made the conscious decision to break away from the bad news, silence the talking heads, and take a view of the world that is built on my experience rather than someone else’s targeted perception. I’ve always prided myself as being someone who stays up to date on current events, particularly when it comes to matters of policy and government (the old political-science major in me simply refuses to die). And that fear of missing some major world event has prevented me from tuning out the noise in the past. But my poor battered psyche simply can’t take anymore. The truth about life is that is doesn’t suck. The truth about the world is that it hasn’t gone to shit. And I refuse to give my time and attention to institutions that spend all of their time and money trying to convince me otherwise. I don’t find it necessary to institute a complete media black-out (and I won’t have to thanks to NPR among a few others), but I am prepared to make myself blissfully ignorant to 85 percent of the garbage that is being falsely advertised as news. Innovations in technology, science, and human health and longevity are happening at warp-speed. Tragedies that have the ability to tear us apart have actually brought us together in ways not previously seen. A new generation is coming of age that deserves the same prospects of hope, promise, and optimism that so many previous generations enjoyed.
So, no more Catastrophe News Network for me. I’m not trying to live with my head in the clouds. I’m just trying to keep it away from anyone who’s trying to pollute it.
[Quick note: This post was written a few hours before the news broke regarding the horrific attacks in Paris. Like most of the world, I was glued to my television as the events unfolded. But even with a story as significant as this, there came a time when news reporting morphed into commentary, speculation, and rumor. At that point I found it necessary to turn off the television and keep it off. The people of Paris, however, remain in my thoughts.]
Classic scene from the movie ‘Network’. As resonant now as it was in 1976!
JOHN HARDY BELL 